David,where are you getting this information? I would like to see it. I don't have any proof on my end, just what seems like common sense.

Again, I still say a large portion (if not all) of the blame lays on the consumers shoulders. Yeah, the mortgage lenders may have lied, but come on! If you make $30,000, you can't afford a $200,000 house!! Simple math would tell you that. Heck, even a $100,000 house would stretch them more than likely.

If I walked into a Ferrari dealership today and they offered me a new 458 Italia, I should know that there is NO way I could afford the car payments!

When Amy & me bought this house in 2006, we had a set budget amount. No way were we going over it and we didn't. Our stupid realtor tried to get us up more in price, but sorry...we aren't stupid. Plus, we got a fixed rate mortgage because variable rates are REALLY stupid!

And if John Q Public out there doesn't know that, then they should do some research prior to buying.

Oh..but no, why do that when you could move into a $200,000 house with only $1500 (or less!) down!

Come on, that's just plain greed there and people living way beyond their means. Nobody forced them to sign bad bank loans. If they were misled, then they should have thought something was up if their yearly income couldn't cut it for payments. Simple math.

Now, what I would like to know is how "happy" the citizens of their countries are...I don't know.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says people in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are the most content with their lives. The three ranked first, second and third, respectively, in the OECD's rankings of "life satisfaction," or happiness.

There are myriad reasons, of course, for happiness: health, welfare, prosperity, leisure time, strong family, social connections and so on. But there is another common denominator among this group of happy people: taxes.

Northern Europeans pay some of the highest taxes in the world. Danes pay about two-thirds of their income in taxes. Why be so happy about that? It all comes down to what you get in return. ...

It may not just be taxes, of course, that lead to happiness. There are other factors to consider. But better social services and less worry about having to pay for things such as medical bills, retirement and education do help with the happiness factor.

Yet, we are so dead set against paying more taxes that it's even spawning nationwide protests. Tea party, anyone?

Maybe it's time that we looked at taxes differently. We have to pay them anyway. So they might as well make us happy. If Northern Europe is any benchmark, the more we'd pay the happier we just may be.

This “welfare state” model is an excellent example of effective national taxes. Among other things the state provides universal tax-funded childcare, parental leave, health care, education (including university), retirement pensions and sick leave. Including value added tax (VAT – kind of like sales tax), it is possible to pay up to 80% of your income as taxes. Contrary to popular belief, Swedes are quite OK with their high taxes. After all it gives them tons of free and high quality services – what’s not to be happy about!

* 15% on the first $41,544 of taxable income, + * 22% on the next $41,544 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $41,544 and $83,088), + * 26% on the next $45,712 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $83,088 and $128,800), + * 29% of taxable income over $128,800.

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